


Walk This Way

by Ultra



Category: Leverage
Genre: Dom/sub Play, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Gen, Light Dom/sub, Loss of Control, Male-Female Friendship, Parker Being Parker, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Resolved Sexual Tension, Self-Discovery, Sex, Sexual Content, Understanding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-21
Updated: 2013-06-21
Packaged: 2018-04-01 04:31:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4005952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ultra/pseuds/Ultra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The team are taking a well-earned break, and Parker has followed Eliot as he goes to visit an old friend. Neither hitter nor thief expect the revelations that come from their 'vacation', but Maggie knew all along! </p><p>(Set in an AU Season 4 where Parker isn't dating Hardison).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Caitriona_3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caitriona_3/gifts).



Parker didn’t like secrets. Well, that wasn’t strictly true. Actually, she loved secrets, but only when she was in on them. She didn’t like secrets being kept from her, even though she probably had more than anybody else on her team. Eliot liked to keep his stuff private and personal. He wasn’t much for sharing most of the time, and Parker let it go because sometimes it wasn’t really worth pissing him off. Other times it was fun, but with secrets, she tended to let Eliot be.

This particular day, things were different.

The team were taking a break between jobs. It didn’t happen much but they’d been through quite a tough time lately, a lot going on all at once, plus they all knew the significance of the upcoming date. Next week should’ve been Sam’s birthday, and it was hitting Nate pretty hard. He and Sophie were taking a literal break, going aboard for a few days. Hardison had a convention or a tournament or something that he wanted to attend, and that just left Parker and Eliot. She didn’t really have a plan exactly, and when the hitter wouldn’t share where he was going or what he was doing, she got all suspicious. Usually he gave some idea of his plans, even if it was just ‘visiting family’ or ‘going fishing’. This time he wouldn’t give anything away, not even a hint, and it had peaked Parker’s interest.

This was how it came to be that Eliot was driving his truck down the freeway with a stowaway onboard that he knew nothing about. His fingers were tapping along to the radio and the window was wide open so the wind whipped at his hair. Eliot was just enjoying the open road, following a route he knew like the back of his hand these days. Before long he was pulling onto the driveway of a pretty little house in row of similar places, and Parker peeked out at him as he exited the truck, locked it up and moved up to the front door.

Maybe Eliot was just visiting family, the thief considered, or a girlfriend he never told the team about. Parker wasn’t sure why that last thought made her insides twist up into knots. Eliot slept with women all the time and she didn’t care so much, but the idea of him actually having someone he came back to all the time, someone that wasn’t her...

“Oh,” she actually made a verbal sound of surprise that she couldn’t help when she realised who had answered the door to Eliot’s knock.

The blonde who hugged him tight might be his girlfriend, but somehow Parker doubted it. After all, she was Nate’s ex-wife, and that would just be very, very awkward.

“Dammnit, Parker!” Eliot exclaimed as he turned around and caught her spying.

Maggie only laughed.

_Thirty minutes later..._

“So, when your team has a break, sometimes Eliot comes to visit,” Maggie explained to a confused looking Parker.

The two of them were sat at the small table in Maggie’s kitchen. Parker was holding a mug of hot chocolate with two hands and alternately looking at her friend and the mini marshmallows bobbing in her drink. Maggie herself sipped at a cup of tea on and off, casting an eye over to where Eliot leant by the counter with his beer bottle dangling between his fingers.

“How is this any of her business?” asked the hitter, like some kind of stroppy teenager, making Maggie want to roll her eyes.

Seriously, these two! If she had her way she would have match-maked them long ago, but she knew better than to try really.

“Parker, you probably shouldn’t’ve been hiding in Eliot’s truck,” said Maggie in her best firm but fair motherly tone. “It wasn’t exactly fair to follow him around and y’know you could’ve hurt yourself back there.”

The odd burst of laughter from the little thief then failed to make Eliot flinch, he was so used to her by now. Poor Maggie almost spilt her tea at the sound. It really was no surprise to Eliot that Parker had done something so crazy, since that was practically her middle name anyway. However, he had hoped they’d reached a point in their friendship where she would just ask him where he was going if she was so very interested, trusting him to tell her the truth. Of course, Eliot also knew if she had asked he probably would’ve made some excuse not to answer rather than directly lie to her. Either way, she wouldn’t have got the answer she wanted, which would have lead to her stowing away in his truck anyway. There really was no winning with Parker sometimes, but that was what made her special, he figured.

“So, you two are having sex?”

That one did get Eliot. Even he hadn’t been ready for that question and had to turn quickly towards the sink so his mouthful of beer went down the drain instead of all over the floor in a spray. A few curse words might’ve escaped along with the beer if Maggie hadn’t cut in fast.

“Oh, Parker, no!” she laughed, too much in the hitter’s opinion. “No, no, no. Eliot and I have never, _ever_ ,” she insisted, her hand making a cutting motion through the air. “Definitely not.”

“You wanna throw a few more negatives in there, Mags,” asked Eliot as he turned back around and caught her eye.

He knew she didn’t mean to be offensive, but he’d be lying if he said it didn’t sting just a little. No guy wanted to know a woman they liked, even if only as a friend, to be so vehement in their denial of a sexual relationship. They liked each other well enough that first night they met, something could’ve happened. Of course that all got blown to hell when they realised each others true identities. Eliot wasn’t sure that he could actually go with Maggie, not once he knew she was Nate’s ex wife. It’d be like stealing your brother’s girlfriend or something, it just wasn’t done. They talked about it once, a conversation it seemed she was now going to explain to Parker of all people.

“It’s not that Eliot is not a very attractive man, obviously,” said Maggie, looking sideways at him and then back to Parker. “It’s just... it would be too awkward and complicated. We like just being friends,” she smiled genuinely.

“Huh,” said Parker, a non committal sort of an answer to what she’d heard but apparently all she was prepared to share.

The thief took a long drink of her hot chocolate, eyes darting between Maggie and Eliot over the rim of her mug. Now she knew the secret, and it was actually pretty boring. Eliot came to visit Maggie once in a while, just to hang out. They weren’t having sex, they were just being friends, talking, spending time together doing whatever ‘normal’ people did. She wasn’t sure why she was glad about that, but Parker definitely was. Maybe it was because she knew Nate wouldn’t like the idea of his ex-wife and his team-mate sleeping together. Yeah, that had to be it.

“I’m assuming this visit coincides with another team break so... Nate needed to get away, huh?” said Maggie with a knowing look towards Eliot.

He looked as awkward as Parker ever saw him, watching his own feet as his boot scuffed against the floor. Now it made sense. Nate had gone away with Sophie, trying to get through one of the roughest times of year for him, what should have been Sam’s birthday. That little boy had been Maggie’s son too, so she was probably upset. Eliot had come here to make sure she wasn’t sad and alone, and that was really sweet. A lot of people didn’t know he could be that way, but Parker did. Away from prying eyes, Eliot had been entirely nice to her when she got injured, when she was upset. Even the rest of the team didn’t know about those moments, and she never felt the need to tell them.

Thinking all this meant Parker missed Eliot explaining to Maggie that he had come to check she was okay, that he knew she was a tough lady and all, but he worried. All Parker could think about was how she wasn’t entirely sure she was happy with this Eliot and Maggie friendship now. She had thought it was only her that got special Eliot sweetness, and now it turned out Maggie got it too. That wasn’t fair!

Parker opened her mouth to say something about it, but stopped short when she noticed tears sparkling in Maggie’s eyes. Her ears tuned back into the conversation and she heard Eliot apologise for even bringing it up. It had to be Sam, and that made Parker’s heart clench. She hated when that child’s name came up in conversation with the team. Nate’s eyes turned dark and then emptied out entirely. He could look so lost, so haunted. It made Parker physically shudder, like a ghost just passed through her, and it happened right now whilst she was just thinking about it.

“Are you okay, sweetie?” asked Maggie.

A hand landed on her arm in a comforting gesture, and for a long moment, Parker just continued to stare into her now empty mug. Eventually she looked at the hand on her arm and then up into Maggie’s face. Poor Maggie. She must be so lonely here all by herself, no family, no team. There was no way Parker could be mad about Eliot being nice to her when she needed a friend. It made her want to be a friend too, though she still hadn’t entirely learnt how yet.

“It’ll be okay,” she said seriously, putting down her mug and placing an awkward hand over Maggie’s own. “We’re here for you, so you don’t have to be sad and lonely,” she smiled.

Eliot shook his head and turned away so his smirk wouldn’t show. Parker was just the worst person he ever saw at being comforting, but hell, if the girl wasn’t going to try anyway. She was a good girl, most of the time. She never really meant anybody any real harm, she was just trying to find her way in a world that she never fully understood. Sure, her antics made Eliot mad sometimes, but he always cared, never stopped loving her.

That last thought pulled the hitter up sharply. Love. That was a big word, but it was true enough. His team had become his family, so of course he loved them. Still, it was strange that the first time the word floated unbidden into his mind it was attached so easily to Parker’s name. Within a moment, he threw off the odd mixture of feelings and turned his attention back to the two women at the table. Maggie was just thanking Parker for her kindness and assuring her she was fine.

“A little company would be nice for a few days,” she smiled, looking between the two of them. “I only have one spare room, but...”

“I can sleep on the couch, it’s fine,” said Eliot, ever the gentleman.

“It’s nice to know at least one man is keeping chivalry alive,” said Maggie with a grin. “What do you say, Parker?”

The thief looked from the woman whose hand she was still holding somehow, to the man she saw as protector and friend. She honestly wasn’t sure what either of them expected her to say so she just shrugged.

“Can I have more hot chocolate?”


	2. Chapter 2

The first couple of days at Maggie’s house were pretty uneventful. Parker didn’t mind so much. She expected to be bored, but it turned out there really wasn’t any time to be. Eliot said he always did a little work on the garden out back when he visited, since Maggie wasn’t as green fingered as he was and rarely had as much time as she needed to keep it looking good anyway. Parker was permitted to help out there and actually enjoyed it, especially when Eliot got hot and took his overshirt off. She never told him she liked to watch him best of all when he was half naked, because somehow she thought he’d be mad about it. Maggie noticed her watching but didn’t say a word, just hid her smile in her glass of iced tea and did a little staring of her own, truth be told.

Parker had also enjoyed spending time with Maggie, especially when she showed her old photo albums and told her tales about Nate in his younger days. Apparently their fearless leader wasn’t always so much of a Mastermind after all! It was just fun, when it wasn’t sad. Sam’s name and picture had both come up at some point, and that had led to tears that made Parker uncomfortable. She watched with a strange mixed-up feeling in the pit of her stomach when Maggie cried and Eliot held her, telling her it was okay. She was very glad when that was over.

Grief from years gone by aside, they all seemed to have fun. Eliot cooked dinner one night, and Maggie did it the other. Parker said she would take a turn, but only if they all wanted cereal and candy as a main meal. She knew they’d say no, since she was the only one craziest enough to do that. Eliot had told her so, but she knew he didn’t mean it in a nasty way, not really. Just because he seemed mad all the time, he was a much nicer person than anyone realised. Parker said as much to Maggie at the end of the second full day she and Eliot had spent here. The hitter himself had gone out to the grocery store for more provisions, leaving the girls to shell peas. Though Parker was baffled by the prospect of peas coming from anything other than a bag in the icebox, she didn’t complain and just joined Maggie in what was apparently an old-fashioned task.

“Sometimes I wonder why he pretends to be so grumpy all the time,” she sighed heavily. “It must be exhausting!”

Maggie smiled indulgently. Parker was such a sweetheart, she really was. A little naive, maybe, but completely adorable. That word made Maggie rethink her whole theory after the way Parker had once used it to describe her, but she shook it off fast enough. 

“Y’know, that sweet side of Eliot that most people don’t see, don’t you think it’s strange that you seem to have seen so much of it?” she asked, as if it wasn’t a loaded question.

Naive as Parker was about men and relationships and such, she probably wouldn’t notice anyway.

“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “I like it when he’s nice, and sometimes I like to make him mad, just for fun,” she giggled then, like teenagers did when they talked about boys they liked. “Do you secretly stare when he takes his shirt off?” she asked straight out then.

“Sometimes,” Maggie admitted easily enough, not at all ashamed, even when she realised Eliot had returned and was right there in the doorway. “Do you?” she turned Parker’s question around and the little thief nodded, answering around a mouthful of fresh peas.

“Oh yeah!” she said definitely.

Eliot chose that moment to make his presence known, forcing a throat-clearing cough as he strolled in. He quickly started talking about his trip to the grocery store, but his mind was elsewhere. He wasn’t stupid, he knew he had a body women liked to stare at and he had no problem with them taking a good look. It was kind of a surprise to know Parker was so into watching him in a semi-naked state though. Not that he should be so scandalised, Eliot supposed. After all, beyond all the crazy, Parker was still a woman, and maybe not quite as virginal and skittish as she came off at times, he was sure.

The kitchen had gotten very quiet in the moments that followed, so quiet that Eliot realised the giggling he could hear wasn’t coming from either of the women sat behind him. He turned almost a full circle trying to pinpoint the sound, only for Maggie to groan and cover her face with her hands.

“Really? This early?” she called over her shoulder to a blank wall.

Parker looked as baffled as Eliot felt as the giggling, which must therefore have been coming from next door, grew ever louder. There was some minor crashing, fallen objects and such, and then the woman who had been giggling let out a distinctive squeal.

“The new neighbour has an active bedroom life, huh?” asked Eliot with a smirk he couldn’t help.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Maggie shook her head, flicking her blonde hair out of her face as she did so. “Wait for it... three, two, one.”

The crescendo of noise that suddenly came though the wall made Parker physically jump in her seat. Despite Maggie’s countdown she had not been ready for that! A loud banging sounded over and over and over, a regular thud of something hitting the adjoining wall, and what had to be the giggling woman from before, well, she sounded like maybe somebody was murdering her... in a way she was enjoying... except that made absolutely no sense.

“What the hell is she doing?” asked Parker in perfect innocence.

Eliot couldn’t find the words for that one and didn’t even try. Maggie bit her lip trying to think of the best way to say it without embarrassing everybody present. It didn’t take long for her to realise the damage was already done anyway.

“She and her boyfriend are having sex, Parker,” she said gently. “The loud kind.”

“Oh,” the little blonde nodded knowingly, except she actually didn’t know anything yet. “Is it better when it’s loud?” she asked earnestly, her question punctuated by Eliot dropping a knife onto the tiled floor with a clatter.

“I, er... I think we’re in the way of the chef,” said Maggie, encouraging Parker up out of her seat and towards the living room.

On the way out, she flipped on the radio which automatically played the country station. She shot a smile back over her shoulder at Eliot who returned the look with genuine thanks, both for removing Parker and trying to drown out the noisy neighbours and their bouncy fun.

Through in the living room, Parker threw herself down in the middle of the couch, pulled her legs up lotus style, and stared at Maggie as she sat down in an armchair. It seemed bizarre that she was going to have to give this unrelated grown woman some kind of sex talk, but here they were. Parker really didn’t have anyone else to educate her, Maggie supposed, expect maybe Sophie. As much as Maggie liked the grifter, she wasn’t entirely sure she would be comfortable having a sex talk with Parker, and if she was, she probably had very different experiences to Maggie herself.

“Parker, you... Um, you’re not a virgin, are you?” she checked, just because she needed somewhere to begin and it seemed as good a place as any.

The laughter was enough of an answer without Parker actually saying ‘no’.

“Okay,” Maggie took a breath. “Well, sometimes, when people love each other, sex is a very gentle, special experience,” she tried to explain as best she could, never once making eye contact with Parker who now seemed determined to give Maggie her rapt attention. “At the same time, well, if you love someone and trust them, you can... well, sometimes it’s fun to just play around or be a little crazy or rougher... Oh, I’m not explaining this well,” she said, feeling ridiculous.

Parker was frowning like someone just gave her a math puzzle involving dividing by pi or similar, and Maggie couldn’t blame her for being so confused. Explaining the mild kinks of her next door neighbour was not what she considered fun, especially since she wasn’t really sure what the woman’s preferences were anyway. She only surmised from what she heard through the wall, and that was way more than she needed!

“So, her guy is hurting her, and she likes it?” asked Parker eventually, clearly not seeing how that could ever be fun.

“No, that’s not... Well, actually, yeah, some people do like that actually,” Maggie considered. “I don’t get it myself, but people are all very different and... well, with Annette, my neighbour, its not so much that as, um, she likes that her boyfriend is in charge, y’know?”

Parker expression proved that no, she did not know, not at all.

“Some women, they like to... submit to a man,” she started over, her eyes closed so she didn’t have to see the twists and turns of Parker’s confused facial expressions. “To let him be in control of the situation. It’s kind of like riding a rollercoaster or... or jumping off a building, I guess?” she suggested, hoping these were analogies Parker might be able to relate to. “I mean, you know you’re gonna be okay, but there’s that thrill of not being completely in control. It... it can feel pretty good actually.”

The smile on her lips had not been conscious at all, it just kind of happened. She hoped to God Parker didn’t ask her what it was for or how she knew so much about this. This conversation was only going to get so far before Maggie turned puce and felt the need to run away as it was!

“Huh,” said Parker then.

It seemed to be becoming her non-phrase of choice these last few days, and Maggie was getting used to hearing it. She hoped she had made her understand without freaking her out or giving her the wrong idea. Parker was fragile, Maggie knew, not really physically since she was super-fit and Eliot had taught her to fight. Still,she was delicate as a flower on the inside. Her heart was practically made of glass and though she was supposedly expert at hiding emotions, Maggie had an idea things cut much deeper in Parker’s soul than anyone else’s on the Leverage team. She really didn’t want to ‘break’ her for want of a better time, by scaring her or confusing her.

“I’m sorry,” said Maggie then. “Parker, you look a little freaked out.”

“No,” she shook her head definitely. “No, just... thinking.”

The real truth was, Parker had never thought about sex much. She’d tried it and she knew it was okay. Sometimes she got this urge like she just really wanted to do it, and so she had tried it, and it was... okay. She didn’t really get why people made such a big deal. Not that she had masses of experience, but riding a guy hard until things happened, it was pretty simple and just okay. Parker never really considered it would be any different if she let a guy be on top or whatever. That would mean trusting a person, like Maggie said, and Parker didn’t really do that... except with the guys on her team. Of course she would never have sex with Nate because he was old and sometimes kind of fatherly, and Hardison was okay for making out with on cons but never at any other time. He was way too much like her brother to consider having sex with. On the other hand, there was Eliot. Hot, tough, in control, Eliot. A feeling shot through Parker in unison with a pleasured scream from next door, so loud that Parker would’ve sworn the house shook from the noise. Maggie was a little worried about the odd expression her friend wore.

“Parker?” she checked, reaching out to her, not quite making contact before the thief flinched.

“I’m fine,” she said definitely even as she darted to her feet. “I just... I have to go to the bathroom.”

She was gone in a flash and Maggie didn’t know what to say. Mostly she was just glad to know Annette had reached her destination and would be quiet when they all wanted to sit down to dinner. Of course, she couldn’t help also thinking about Parker. The poor girl looked so shaken up by the idea of sex she wasn’t in control of, but that expression had definitely altered after a few moments, her eyes drifting very definitely to the kitchen door whether she realised it or not.

Maggie hid a smile and got up to go see how Eliot was doing with dinner. She wouldn’t mention any of this to him, not right now, but she was definitely going to have to keep an eye on these two. Maybe it really wasn’t just her thinking they’d make a wonderful couple.


	3. Chapter 3

“Y’know, I appreciate it, but I really could’ve done this myself,” said Maggie with a smile.

Eliot was a sweetheart for taking care of things around the house whenever he came to visit. The garden looked better than ever, and now he was working on fixing up some shelves she’d had lying around the past six months that had never quite made it up onto the wall.

“Call me old-fashioned, even a sexist pig if you want,” the hitter shrugged, flipping the screwdriver in the air and catching it easily. “I just think this kind of thing is a guy’s job.”

“I know, I remember ‘Chivalry ain’t dead, sweetheart’,” she mocked his accent very badly and then laughed at herself as he tried his best not to do the same. “Where’s Parker?” she asked then, wandering over to get a better look at Eliot’s handiwork.

“No idea,” he admitted as he gathered up the plastic wrap the shelves had been in and the extra screws he hadn’t needed for the brackets. “Knowing Parker she could be anywhere from up on the roof watching the sun go down, to digging a hole to China in your back yard,” he smirked.

Maggie couldn’t argue with either idea being likely. Parker was a singular young woman, that was for sure, but she was different today. Ever since Maggie had that talk with her last night about sex Parker had been very quiet, distant even, and her eyes had been on Eliot almost every minute they were in the same room together. It was strange that he didn’t seem to notice, he was usually so very aware, but then Parker might just be even sneakier than her hitter friend. Maggie was pretty sure you couldn’t pass a cigarette paper between them on the sneaky scale, they were that close.

“You do a good job, Mr Spencer,” she said then as she looked over her shelves, thinking how nice it would be to get all those books and paperweights out of the plastic crates at last and arrange them where she could see them. “Consider me impressed.”

“Well, thank you, ma’am,” he smiled, pretending to a tip a hat he wasn’t wearing.

He moved away to take out the trash and tidy up, but stopped short half way to the door. Eliot turned back to look at Maggie again, his eyes travelling up and down her body a moment. She noticed, and the look on her face was questioning what he thought he was doing.

“You going out?” he asked, just now realising how dressed up she was.

Maggie was a very attractive woman, he had noticed the first time they met. Their friendship and all its limitations didn’t make Eliot blind. He still knew Maggie was hot, especially when she put in the effort. Tonight was all about effort it seemed as she wore a long fitted black dress that showed every curve and line to its best.

“I am,” she confirmed with a single nod. “I, er... I guess I should’ve told you about Jeremy, but, well, it’s not serious or anything, at least not yet.”

She was practically blushing and it made Eliot smile. As beautiful, confident, and mature as she was, Maggie was like all women when she dated someone new; bashful, uncertain, and all the sweeter for it. It was good to know that after all the crap she’d been through she could find a little happiness. She was a good person, a better friend than Eliot felt he deserved most of the time. Yes, she deserved happiness.

“Mags, I ain’t your Daddy,” he shook his head, trying to meet her eyes. “You can date any guy you want, I ain’t gonna say you shouldn’t, and I wouldn’t ever tell Nate on ya, you know that.”

“I know,” she nodded slowly, taking a breath and allowing herself a moment to get over the embarrassment of talking about her dating life with Eliot Spencer of all people. “It’s just, sometimes it still feels strange, going out on dates at my age.”

“Hey! You ain’t old, not even close,” he told her mock-sternly. “You got your whole life ahead of you, Mags, and if this Jeremy guy treats your decent, go for it. Maybe it’ll be for the long haul, maybe you just bleed him dry for a few expensive dates and then dump his ass,” he smirked wickedly. “Either way, you deserve the good times, okay?”

“Thank you, Eliot,” she said with a genuine smile. “But y’know I shouldn’t be the only one having all these good times,” she told him. “What about you and Parker?”

Eliot opened his mouth to answer and then closed it again. His lips twitched with words he wasn’t quite willing to share. Him and Parker, it was the way Maggie said it. It was as if she weren’t thinking of them as two seperate entities but as one whole. That was just wrong. Not a bad kind of wrong, like a disgusting terrible wrong, just the incorrect, mistaken kind of wrong, that’s all.

“That’s an intense look for a pretty straight-forward question,” she said, suddenly close enough to lay her hand on his forearm. “Eliot?”

“Me and Parker?” he scoffed, though the incredulous laugh didn’t quite come off. “That’s just... that’s crazy talk,”

“Really?” Maggie’s smirk was more impressive that Eliot’s own as she held his gaze even when he tried to get away. “For a thief and a grifter, you’re a terrible liar,” she shook her head.

“Oh, I’m a liar now?” he checked, floundering just a little.

This was just not a fair. Eliot could look into the eyes of a man bigger than he was, armed to the teeth, with no morals and no soul, and tell an out and out lie. Now he was faced by a little blonde woman, probably one of the least scary people he ever met the whole of his life, and Eliot hadn’t a clue how to tell her an untruth.

“You look me in the eye and tell me you don’t have feelings for Parker,” she challenged him, completely serious apparently.

He knew Maggie meant it, even though she was smiling. It didn’t ought to be a big deal really, to admit that he liked Parker well enough. On the other hand, Eliot Spencer was a man who wasn’t much for being in touch with his emotions, or spilling his guts just for fun. Besides, whatever he may or may not feel for Parker was kind of irrelevant. They were not going to have that kind of relationship, not ever, it just couldn’t happen.

“Feelings, yeah,” he shrugged like it was no big deal. “She’s on my team, like family. I’d do anything to keep her safe.”

“You’d die for her,” said Maggie, not a question but a statement as she met his eyes again. “I mean, you really would.”

“Yes,” he replied on automatic, but the rest of the words in his head just wouldn’t come.

He would die for any member of his team, he would. That was what Eliot meant to say, but all in a moment it had no relevance. They were talking about Parker. Sweet, adorable, crazy, off-the-wall Parker. Eliot always knew she was hot, and had learnt over time that she was also a beautiful person on the inside where it counted. Still, it never occurred to him to actually do anything about what he felt for her. Parker showed no interest in him that way, she really didn’t show any interest in any guys, and yeah, sure, he caught her checking out his body the other day and she admitted as much to Maggie, but what did that prove? She was a woman with eyes, that was all.

“Eliot?” Maggie prompted him, her hand squeezing his arm. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you,” she apologised immediately, looking as sincere as ever.

“You didn’t,” he shrugged off her concern, pushing his hair back off his face with one hand. “I just, er... Y’know, me and Parker, we get along like a house on fire, we really do,” he explained. “Yeah, she drives me crazy sometimes, but that’s just her, and I can deal with that. She’s a beautiful person, inside and out, and yeah, okay, I’ve thought about it, but we’re never gonna be... it’s just not who I am, Mags, or who she is.”

Maggie wasn’t sure how to answer that for the best. Eliot had this idea that he just wasn’t good enough for anybody, despite the fact he exuded self-confidence most of the time. He liked to pick up women and he knew it came easy because he was the text-book definition of hot. He knew that in a fight he would come out on top because he was the stronger, smarter man. All that confidence, but ask the guy to risk his heart and say he loved somebody, he practically cowered in a corner. Maggie wasn’t sure what to make of it, or how to help. Still, Eliot had been there for her enough times since she’d known him. Maybe it was about time she found a way to return the favour.

“Don’t sell yourself short,” she told him seriously. “Y’know, despite what you think, you do deserve to be happy, Eliot, and so does Parker. You two might just be the making of each other.”

Her advice was sage and her looks so wise, Eliot hadn’t an idea how to argue with her. Not that there was much chance for him to even try since Maggie was soon repeating the fact she was going out on a date and had to leave. Eliot hoped he wished her a good time with Jeremy. He knew he made a promise to bust the guys knee-caps if he did anything wrong, at which Maggie had laughed like a bell as she finally left.

There was tidying up to do, Eliot reminded himself, and got on with the task at hand. He tried to concentrate only on putting tools back where he found them, and taking out the trash, but his mind just kept on wandering back to Parker. Maggie had been a little too correct in what she said about Eliot’s feelings for the crazy thief. They were different to what he felt for the rest of the team and they were strong. He loved her, that was the truth of it, in a way he couldn’t ever begin to describe properly. Sure, he meant what he said about loving the whole team, because he did feel that way. He’d die to save them because it was his job, because they were his family. With Parker, it ran deeper, it was just different. He wanted to protect her, that much was true, but he wanted more than that too. He wanted what he knew he could never have because neither Parker nor the team dynamic would allow it.

Parker wasn’t built for relationships. Maggie had to have a talk with her so she even understood the finer points of a persons sex life, for crying out loud! There were so many thing she just didn’t get because nobody bothered to tell her or show her. It’d drive Eliot crazy to deal with that twenty four seven, to try and be the responsible one that was always, always there for Parker. Of course, it pulled him up sharply to realise he was pretty much that person anyway. Besides, he would love to be there for her forever, to be allowed to love her the way he was sure nobody had up to now.

“You’re thinkin’ crazier than she is, Spencer,” he growled to himself when he realised where his thoughts were wandering

So Parker liked the sight of him with his shirt off, so what? That was true of a lot of women and they didn’t all want to love, honour, and obey, mostly just screw and leave. Parker trusted him, Eliot knew that, and that was a big deal for a person who had learnt to trust no-one from the time she was all of seven. Still, it didn’t prove he was a person she could love, if she was even capable of that kind of feeling. She cared, he knew she did, about each member of their little team, but this was different. Everything was different, because she was... she was...

“Parker?!”

The exclamation of her name flew out of Eliot’s mouth like an explosion as he opened the door to the guest bedroom without thinking. He knew it was her room right now, but it had been his before, and his brain was so pre-occupied he had just strolled on in without considering it. Now his flagging brain was entirely melting, or at least it felt that way to Eliot. What other reaction was he supposed to have to finding Parker, laid out on the bed in what he presumed she thought was a sexy pose, wearing nothing but black lace underwear.

“Hey,” she smiled, albeit nervously, and Eliot might’ve noticed if his eyes could stick on her face - that was not an easy task right now.

“What the hell are you doin’, Parker?” he asked her then, unable to find any other words, and struggling with the fact he knew he should turn his back right now, he really should.

“I was waiting for you,” she admitted, propping herself up on her elbows. “Then I got bored, so I called your name, and...”

Eliot frowned as he thought on that a moment, making a very deliberate attempt to turn his head away from the overtly sexy picture that was Parker right now. He wasn’t actually aware that he came in here because she called for him, was he? He’d been so wrapped up on thoughts about Parker, maybe he had just come when she called without really processing what he was doing. Maybe he was just as crazy as he sometimes accused her of being!

“Eliot?”

This time he heard his name, and turned his head to look at her again. Before he had a chance to form a question as to why she was dressed like this or waiting for him, to consider if he had actually fallen, hit his head, and was having a dream that was about to get very erotic, she was crawling towards him across the bed and reaching out for a handful of his shirt.

“So, I was hoping we could... Well, basically, I wanna have sex,” she said straight out at last, which was actually less shocking than it might’ve been since Parker liked to just come out and say things anyway. “Eliot, I wanna know what it feels like, when a guy is... in charge of things” she admitted, licking her lips. “I trust you so... Take me? Please?”


	4. Chapter 4

Eliot Spencer was pretty sure his brain started melting out of his ears somewhere between finding Parker in sexy underwear, and her asking him to take her. The honest to God truth was, he wanted to just do it. Eliot could’ve so easily just let himself drown in her eyes and fall headlong into this moment.

Having sex with Parker, yeah, he’d thought about it, in fact there was a dream one time that was probably the best night of his life that hadn’t actually happened yet. It was that word ‘yet’ that was going to get Eliot into some very serious trouble right now if he didn’t stop this situation before it got started.

“Parker,” her name came from his lips in no more than a whisper, though the softness of it was far from intentional. “I, er... Not that I’m not flattered, but... I’m just having a little trouble understanding how we got from friends that sometimes drive each other crazy to ‘take me’,” he admitted, making a point of uncurling her fingers from his shirt.

His eyes were shut because he honestly didn’t know where to look. Eliot knew staring at Parker as she was dressed now was only going to make this that much harder, and didn’t that just have a couple of extra meanings right now?! Besides, questioning her on this, denying her request, which was how she would take his questioning, it might cause her pain. If there was one thing Eliot could not stand to see it was tears on a woman’s face, and Parker counted double on that score.

A few moments passed in silence, and Eliot dared to glance at her face. There was no particular look of hurt there, but she was confused apparently. That was at least relatively normal for Parker when she found herself in a situation she didn’t get, whilst everyone else in the world would’ve had no problem with it. ‘Normal’ people, for want of a better term, they knew that you just didn’t just strip down to your underwear and offer sex to a work friend. Of course, Eliot knew he couldn’t really just pass Parker off as a girl he worked with. Girl wasn’t even accurate since she was entirely all woman, make no mistake about that, as if he could in this moment.

“I trust you,” she said then, wide-eyed and innocent as a child, despite the provocative way this situation had begun.

“That’s not a bad thing,” said Eliot slowly, pushing his hair off his face and standing up straight.

He looked everywhere but at her as he tried to get his bearings. Realising at length that was not going to happen whilst Parker was dressed like that (or should that be _undressed_ like that?) Eliot picked up the comforter at the bottom of the bed and tossed it in her general direction.

“Could you cover up, just for a minute?” he said, wondering at his own phrasing.

That last part was fine in his head but should not have spilt out of his mouth. Eliot was making this sound way too much like they were putting the sex on hold rather than cancelling it outright. Hell, he was only a man and she was a hell of a woman. It couldn’t be so very wrong of him to want what she was offering, but a voice in his head tried to say otherwise.

“I don’t understand,” Parker admitted.

Eliot was somewhat relieved when he looked over to find she was now mostly wrapped in the comforter with only her lower legs and her arms sticking out. He had to admit, she wasn’t the only confused one right now, though he presumed they were struggling with wildly different factors. Man, he wished this was not a conversation they had to have. He’d avoided the sexting talk a while back, and the awkward explanations about the neighbour’s sex life yesterday. Apparently Parker was saving the best for last and for him. The devil on Eliot’s left shoulder fought against the angel on his right, telling him he was an idiot for talking this out like some chick. He should’ve just taken the woman when she asked for it and been done. Damn his conscience was gonna be the death of him some day!

“Parker, you just don’t ...” he began sitting down at the foot of the bed, his back mostly to her. “You don’t proposition a person that way. It’s different if you’re dating or somethin’, when a person knows maybe that’s what’s on your mind, but you and me, this is what they call uncharted territory, darlin’,” he tried his best to explain. “Besides, your normal reaction to any guy so much as touching you is stab first and don’t even think later,” he told her, shooting her a look.

Parker didn’t flinch. What he said was true, and there was no denying it. When a mark laid a hand on her, she reacted badly, because they were the bad guys. Even when nice guys came onto her at McRorys or wherever, she squirmed away from physical contact. What Eliot didn’t seem to have noticed that those rules didn’t apply to the team, and to him in particular.

“You’re different,” she shrugged easily, the comforter dropping off one shoulder though she didn’t seem to notice. “I mean, Nate’s not really a touching person, and Hardison is all high fives and fist bumps unless I make the first move,” she explained. “You touch me all the time. You catch me when I jump off stuff, or you pull me back from danger. I don’t know why exactly but it never freaked me out,” she said thoughtfully, in fact Eliot was pretty sure he’d never seen her think so hard about anything before. “I threw myself out of a first floor window in Miami on like our third job, and you caught me.”

“That was less catching and more you flattening me,” he told her with a smirk that came too naturally. “That doesn’t prove anything anyway. You throw yourself out of windows and off roofs every chance you get. You didn’t even know I was there that day.”

“That’s not the point,” Parker huffed, blowing her bangs off her forehead. “The point is, all the times you touch me, all the times we’ve been in danger, or trapped somewhere together, I’m never scared. I never freak out because... because you’re there.”

It was a very big deal, Eliot knew that. Parker trusted him, and she had proved it time and again, he just never took the time to notice until she spelt it out like she was doing now. Coming from a person who had the biggest trust issues of anyone he knew, it was a hell of a big deal. It certainly had to mean something, Eliot knew, but it wasn’t an entire explanation for why Parker was here right now in her sexiest underwear offering up her body on a silver platter.

“Okay,” he said, trying not to think too much about what she wasn’t wearing underneath the slipping comforter. “You trust me, and that’s very flattering, Parker. I mean seriously, that does mean a lot to me,” he promised her. “But, sweetheart, you don’t just jump into bed with a guy because you learnt to trust him. That’s not how it works.”

“Then tell me how it does work,” she asked him frustratedly. “Seriously, Eliot, I wanna know. I mean, you take girls home from the bar every other night for sex. Without even knowing you, they must trust you enough to get into your bed, which I so don’t get, but whatever,” she waved away a point she realised was now irrelevant and making her feel a little sick. “Maggie says you treat me differently, and I think she’s right. Plus I like you, I like when you take your shirt off, and I start wondering what you look like naked, and what it’d be like if we were naked together...”

“Parker,” he tried to stop her but the way he growled her name right then was much less a threat than it was a turn on.

“Eliot, do you like me?” she asked him outright, the comforter falling away as she got up onto her knees and reached for him. “Do you... do you want me?”

The simple answers to those questions were yes and no. It was literally a choice of saying one or the other to her, and Eliot was fast running out of self control. Of course he wanted her. Hell, he seriously wondered if there was a guy walking the Earth that could see her right now and deny her, and that was working on the understanding that not all men even found women attractive!

“Darlin’, it’d be a crazy person that didn’t want you right now,” he promised her, swallowing hard when he saw her smile. “But I’m not... You don’t just sleep with somebody because the neighbour got some last night,” he told her, just about as indelicate as he ever had been, but his point was made at least.

Trust his vocabulary to be the first thing to go when faced with a mostly naked Parker trying to seduce him. So much for asking him to take control of this thing. So far she was doing a pretty good job of getting Eliot right where she wanted him.

“It’s not about that,” she told him, her arms creeping around his neck. “I’ve thought about it before, about me and you, but...”

“But?” he prompted when her eyes dipped away from his face and she failed to finish that thought.

“But I had sex before, not much, but enough to know it’s not as good as everyone says,” she shrugged, looking up to meet his eyes again then. “It was only last night when Maggie said it could be different, that if you trusted a guy and let him take control, sometimes it felt better,” she explained. “I thought about it a lot, and I was thinking about when I throw myself off a building. Even though I’m harnessed up, tied on tight, it doesn’t feel like it. There’s some control and I know I’m going to be okay, but for the longest time it feels like I’m just free falling, not attached to anything, wild and dangerous and...”

Eliot’s lips on hers silenced Parker in a second. Maybe he was a fool, the thought certainly occurred to him, but only for a split second before all reasonable thoughts left him entirely. The things she was saying, they weren’t supposed to be sexy. It was the truth and logic as Parker saw it. Free falling felt good because it was dangerous and crazy, but there was a safety involved, a rope to haul you back before you crashed and died. Eliot wasn’t hearing talk of harnesses and base jumping. Sitting here with Parker halfway in his lap, practically breathing her words onto his face, he was only thinking about how good it felt to lose control with a person you could trust not to go too far. To let somebody take you over, take you under, bring you to your knees and the heights of passion all at once. That was what Parker wanted him to do for her, and damnit, he couldn’t resist the temptation anymore.

Parker was stunned when Eliot kissed her. She hadn’t been ready for it, and maybe that was why it felt all the more exhilarating when it finally happened. She had really had no time to breathe and the lack of oxygen made her head spin, but somehow it felt too good to care. He had her laid down on the bed in a moment, the weight of his body pressing her down into the mattress. It wasn’t constricting enough to make her want to run. This was Eliot, he was safety itself to Parker, and yet venturing into the unknown with him was none the less exciting. If this was what she felt from the heat of a kiss and his hands on her bare skin, Heaven only knew how good it could get when things really got going.

“You sure you want me to do this?” he whispered hoarsely in her ear.

“Yes,” she told him, a mere gasp when she was finally permitted time to breathe. “Yes, please.”

Her hands ran down his back, fought to free his shirt from his pants. Parker had always been impatient for anything, everything, and this was no different. The difference was that she had put Eliot in charge of this situation. The moment she tried to do just what she always did, to get on top and get what she needed, he stopped her. His body weight alone gave him an advantage, that and he knew all her tricks.

“Don’t fight it,” he whispered between kisses, one hand reaching to untangle her fingers from his clothes. “Just breathe,” he told her, trailing his lips down her neck.

Parker had to make herself heed his words, force her lungs to comply to her own demand for oxygen. This felt good, almost too good to bear and she wanted more, so much more. Still, she trusted Eliot, trusted him to the point where she wanted to scream right now. God, even when she’d thought about this, and it had taken up a lot of her thinking time in the past twenty four hours, she never expected to be so overcome this early on.

It was Eliot who took his own shirt off, and Parker bit her lip as she looked up at him. All muscles and planes, he was beautiful, like a marble statue she’d like to steal and hold onto forever. He pulled her up to him then, and Parker honestly hadn’t noticed her bra was gone til she felt the thrill of skin on skin.

Within a second of Eliot starting to kiss her again, Parker was pretty sure she started to lose mind. There were moments when there were no thoughts in her head, only feelings coursing through her. Blood pumping, skin tingling, every nerve ending on fire. When he broke contact she made a sound like a wounded animal, which earnt her just another brief kiss before he shifted to get off the bed. She was so desperate for his touch right now, she almost scrambled after him but the look he gave her stuck her to the spot. He was in charge of this, she asked for that and it was what she was getting. She ached everywhere she possibly could as she was forced to sit back and watch him slide out of his jeans, biting down on her lip so hard it almost bled.

When he returned to her, finally within touching distance, she almost couldn’t stand it. His fingers ran through her hair, caressed her cheek and shifted down past her shoulder and back. Eliot pulled Parker closer, joined her on the bed again, and set every inch of her skin on fire with his kiss and touch. She let him lay her down, pinning her to the bed, allowing him access to every part of her. It wasn’t awkward or weird like it might’ve been, and she never once felt the need to strike out or run away. On the contrary, all Parker wanted was to be closer, as close as Eliot wanted to get her, and from what she could feel through the last of their fast-disappearing clothing, he definitely felt the same. 

“You want it?” he whispered in her ear as his hand slid down. “Really want it?”

“Eliot, please...” she gasped, all coherent thoughts leaving her mind when he touched her there.

In the time that followed, Eliot showed Parker not only what it was to lose control in the very best way she had ever known, but also how it felt to genuinely make love with a real man.


	5. Chapter 5

Several minutes had passed and Parker was still seeing stars. As fit and healthy as she was, breathing still seemed to be an issue even now, and Eliot was to blame. Oh, she wanted to blame him all night long for what he had done to her, beautiful and electric as it had been. Parker had never felt like this before, she didn’t know it was even possible until now. There were a hundred thoughts running through her head, things she wanted to say, but until she could get the breath back in her body she didn’t stand a chance of speaking at all.

Beside her, Eliot was hardly feeling any more coherent. True enough, Parker asked him to take control of this, and for the most part let him do just exactly what he wanted with her body. That didn’t mean either of them had suffered for the experience, both getting to the point of ecstasy more than once. It was a testament to how well-trained their bodies were for exertion that they had gone on for so long. Of course, even the hitter’s stamina could only handle so much. He had rolled off Parker fully five minutes ago, and still they were both breathing hard, covered in a sheen of sweat, and neither willing or able to speak just yet.

“You okay?” he asked eventually, unable to read Parker’s expression sideways on.

“Yes and no,” she admitted, her voice still breathy at best. “I mean, I really don’t think ‘okay’ is gonna cover this,” she smiled.

Eliot smiled too at the sound of those words, allowing himself to be just a little smug. He knew what he was doing when it came to the bedroom, that much was common knowledge. Still, being big-headed about his prowess as a lover was rarely going to be taken well by the woman he just thrilled to paradise and back.

“Why didn’t anybody tell me?” asked Parker then, pushing her very messed up hair off her face. “Why didn’t you tell me?” she said, decidedly accusatory as she slugged Eliot in the shoulder.

“Hey!” he complained, grabbing at the muscle that had not been ready for such an attack. “Why didn’t I tell you, what?” he wanted to know, the both of them propped up on their elbows by now.

They were still naked as the day they were born, the covers of the bed in a messed up heap on the floor, though neither Parker nor Eliot remembered that happening. Propriety was never her strong point anyway, and after what they’d been doing together, he couldn’t care right now either.

“You never told me it could be like that,” said Parker, feeling suddenly stupid when Eliot met her eyes, searching and insistent as ever. “If I’d known, I...”

She couldn’t finish the thought never mind the sentence, and she certainly couldn’t hold Eliot’s gaze. Parker wanted to move but she couldn’t bear too. Her body was still humming all over, aching too, though not in a way that she could possibly mind. When Maggie told her sex could be different, better even, when a guy took charge, Parker hadn’t ever guessed it could feel like this. Giving in, letting someone control you, that was weakness, she always thought so. Now she knew different. Somehow, letting Eliot do whatever he wanted with her was strangely empowering. Maybe it was because even though he had control he didn’t take advantage of that. He got her where she needed to go, more than once, and still got what he needed to. She never doubted he’d be incredible at sex, but he’d outdone her every fantasy tonight.

It made her feel nauseous to think this was all there would ever be, one night of empty passion.

“Parker,” he said softly, as gentle as his fingers at her cheek as he made her look at him again. “Talk to me,” he urged her.

Sure, they were both people of action more than words, but this was important. A part of Eliot was still sure what he’d done here tonight was wrong. It was true enough that Parker had asked him to do what he did, and certainly seemed to have enjoyed the experience. Even if he ignored her screaming and hollering in innate pleasure, she had said as much when it was over.

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to say,” she shifted awkwardly, suddenly feeling strange lying naked next to Eliot. “It was good, like really, really good, but you know that, because you were there,” she said with an oddly nervous laugh. “But what does that mean? That I actually like guys being in control of me? Because I still think I’d stab any other person who tried to... who tried anything with me.”

There were tears in her eyes that were killing Eliot and he knew only one way to help her. Pulling her closer, he put his lips oh so gently against hers and kissed her softly. It was nothing like the heat of their previous passion, but it still made Parker tingle all over.

“Sweetheart, it wasn’t just good because you trusted a person,” he told her, still holding her close with his hand at her neck. “It’s because it was us, you and me,” he told her, one corner of his mouth quirking up in a smile he couldn’t help at all. “Parker, I never thought it was gonna be like that with you. Maybe I shoulda figured it out before, but I honestly didn’t.”

If Parker had been confused before, she was doubly so now. She knew she felt different, she was supposed to, but for the life of her she couldn’t figure out why Eliot would. He’d done this before, with more girls than she could keep a track of, and that was since the team got together. The look on her face must have been obvious, since Eliot immediately called her on it.

“Frown’s back,” he said, looking concerned about it. “I’m sorry, Parker, I’m not trying to put pressure on this. I know it was just about sex for you, I’m the one being an idiot...”

He rolled away from her and all Parker knew for sure was that she didn’t want that. She grabbed at his arm, pulled him back. Just as soon as he was facing her again she grabbed his face in her hands and kissed him hard and long. He took very little encouragement to kiss her back, to pull her body close to his and reignite the fire between them, even if it seemed even more pointless and wrong right now.

“This is because we care,” said Parker uncertainly between kisses and the ragged breaths they had caused again. “You and me, we care about each other. Is that why it’s different?”

“Could be,” Eliot told her, staying non-committal until he was sure how she was going to react. “You okay with that?”

“Yes and no,” she repeated earlier words, laughing at her own confusion because there was nothing else to do, because the elation of what he could make her feel, both before and now, refused to wear off. “More yes than no, I think,” she admitted then.

“Works for me,” he assured her with a smile, as his hands ran down her body and he felt her shiver under his touch. “You cold?” he checked, pretty sure that wasn’t her reason for shuddering.

She shook her head

“Warm,” she confirmed, sliding her leg across his own. “Getting hotter,” she added as she pressed her body flush against him.

“Don’t stop there,” he encouraged her, tongue plundering her mouth as the world started to go beautifully out of focus around them all over again.

“Oh my God,” Parker gasped as Eliot rolled her onto her back, allowing her a moment to take in a breath. “Can you believe it’s taken us this long to try this? I’ll bet Nate and Sophie haven’t even got this far yet, and they’ve known each other way longer.”

Mention of his team-mates got Eliot’s attention and certainly threw him off his game for a second. 

“Do you ever get the feeling we’re the only sane ones on the team?” she asked straight-out, meeting Eliot’s eyes.

The look on his face proved he had not been thinking about their friends right then, and really wished she wasn’t either. It was an expression so obviously readable that even Parker got it.

“Sorry,” she mouthed, feeling so dumb, she didn’t even want to speak aloud.

“’S okay,” he assured her, just because she was too damn cute right now not to forgive. “Just maybe concentrate on us for a while? Not everybody else?” he suggested.

“Give me something else to think about and I’ll try,” she challenged him on purpose, knowing damn well he would rise to it, in more ways than one.

As expected, Eliot did not disappoint Parker this time around either.

* * *

When Maggie got home, it was late, much later than she intended actually. Her date with Jeremy had been more than successful, and when he asked if she wanted to come back to his place for a night cap she had considered it very seriously. They were both adults, they both knew what such a request usually meant. Even though she was all for making the most of things whilst she had them, knowing as she did how short life could be, Maggie wasn’t quite ready for that step yet.

Her boldness allowed her to tell him so, and Jeremy had been so understanding. A promise that they only had to go as far as she was comfortable with led to a beautiful end to a wonderful date. Maggie hadn’t spent the evening making out on the couch in a very long time, but it had been so good, and Jeremy had been as good as his word in not putting pressure on her.

It was past midnight when he dropped her home. Maggie knew she would be sorry when she had to get up early for work, but she still wouldn’t regret anything. As she headed for her bedroom, she checked the living room and kitchen for any sign of Parker or Eliot. She was surprised not to at least find the hitter asleep on the couch, but then she heard giggling.

The sound must’ve been coming from Parker, and Maggie leaned into the guest room door a moment. A familiar growling tone spoke words she couldn’t quite hear and a feminine murmur came back in response before the springs of the bed shifted and creaked. Maggie bit her lip and hurried away to her own room, sure now she understood what had happened here. Seemed her little push to get Eliot and Parker together had paid off, and maybe her neighbour had unwittingly helped too. Maggie decided she ought to get Annabelle a gift of some kind, though she doubted she would want to purchase anything that woman would be genuinely happy to receive!

Taking herself off to bed, Maggie felt she was going to be using those earplugs she occasionally employed when Annette was getting frisky beyond the wall. She was so glad Eliot and Parker finally admitted their feelings for each other, but she really didn’t need to hear the results!

hr

There was an odd atmosphere at the breakfast table next morning. Maggie couldn’t stop smiling because she was so happy to know Eliot and Parker were together now. Neither of them could stop smiling because they’d just had one of the best night of their lives. Still, nobody seemed very willing to talk about any of it, until at last Maggie got bored of tip-toeing around the issue.

“So, you guys decided the guest room was big enough for two, huh?” she said with a knowing smile.

“Somethin’ like that,” Eliot agreed. “That okay with you?” he checked.

It wasn’t as if he thought for a moment Maggie would object to him and Parker having sex in theory, but this was her house, and she might be uncomfortable with that happening under her roof or something. The grin that remained on her face suggested otherwise.

“Please! I couldn’t be happier for the two of you,” she assured him, literally waving away his concern with her free hand, the other holding a mug which she sipped from. “Besides, I’ve been waiting for you both to realise how you felt about each other for long enough. It was always going to happen eventually.”

Parker’s spoon clanged against the bowl as she literally dropped it. Her looks were all seven shades of shock as she stared across at Maggie.

“You knew we were supposed to be together?” she asked, apparently genuinely stunned. “We didn’t even know that. Are you psychic?”

“No, Parker,” Maggie chuckled, moving away to refill her mug with coffee from the machine. “I’m not psychic, I can just see when two people are meant to be together,” she shrugged easily.

“I think she is psychic!” she heard Parker whisper to Eliot.

He only kissed her in response and excused himself to go to the bathroom. Parker leaned over so much on her chair to watch him leave, she almost fell on the floor. Maggie didn’t say a word. It was a beautiful thing, young love, the early stages when you just wanted to be all over each other every minute. She was getting to a place like that with Jeremy, albeit the two of them were that little bit older. It felt just as good though.

Lost in her own thoughts, Maggie didn’t realise Parker had moved until she was there beside her, hugging her so tight she almost spilt coffee down the young woman’s back.

“Oh, um... okay,” she said awkwardly, putting the mug down quickly on the counter and hugging Parker back. “What was that for?” she asked the moment they parted.

“Thank you,” the thief told her simply but seriously. “For helping me and Eliot get together. For letting us stay here and everything.”

Maggie smiled a smile that Parker could only think was motherly, though she had little experience of such things.

“You are always welcome here, sweetheart,” she promised her, putting a hand to her cheek in an affectionate gesture. “You’re like family to me,” she admitted.

Parker smiled at that, and then a strange look came over her face. Her head tilted a little and then Maggie realised what she was listening to. The water was running in the bathroom and, ever so vaguely, Eliot could be heard singing in there.

“Thanks, Aunt Maggie,” called Parker as she took off at a run down the hallway.

Startled by the new title, as well as the realisation that the new couple were probably about to get familiar in her shower, Maggie couldn’t find a way to do anything but laugh out loud.

“Aunt Maggie. To those two?” she said with a chuckle to herself. “Yep, that’s adorable.”


End file.
